What are some of the medicinal herbs y'all have grown, used, or tried and feel are effective or work better than in store products?

Jaime.

I experiment a lot with salves, lotions, and liniments. I've had good luck with a goldenseal/rubbing alcohol infusion for sore joints. It's a bit messy and kind of orange (from the goldenseal), so I usually put it on outside. I've also made several face and body lotions using various oils, aloe vera, and herbs. I was keeping track of all my various potions, but my computer crashed and I lost much of it. Starting over and keeping that information in the cloud now. My go-to resource for reliable recipes is Rosemary Gladstar. I have one of her books (I think she has written several) which are good at explaining the how-tos and also encourages deviating from her recipes to suit your personal needs.

I don't take any medications and rarely get sick, so haven't experimented as much with medicinals - although I did make a good throat syrup for Xmas gifts this past year. Lost that recipe as well, likely from Gladstar.

I grow and use
Lemon balm
Lavender
Rosemary
Several mints
Thyme
White pine needless
I just made a lotion for friends who are bug magnets using lemon balm, chocolate mint, lavender, rosemary and cinnamon. They tell me it works really well at keeping bogs from biting them.

I also made a lotion for respiratory issues as many of my family and friends have allergies or get sinus infections from the change from cold to hot weather we've been having lately.
That one has white pine needles, thyme and lemon balm in it. Great for sore throats, dripping noses or stuffed up noses.
I make a pain lotion for my husband who just shattered his knee in an accident in March that helps ease the pain and keeps the swelling down for him. Still experimenting with herbs on that one but always use lavender, Rosemary, coriander, and lemon balm in it.
I'm trying to find a lotion that will put him to sleep when he has trouble falling asleep. So far one blend makes him drowsy but does not put him to sleep.

Deb, I'm sorry you lost all your recipes. I hope the cloud works better for you. I have a book somewhere about all natural homemade beauty products. Its really neat I just havnt had the time to really try any of the recipes.

Margaret, the bug repellant sounds neat, bugs have always loved me so I feel their pain. Haha
The lotion for pain and sleep are really clever. I need to get catch up on my research. Haha.

Thank you for your info. It's a kick in the butt to catch up on my reading on what has which benefits and how to incorporate them into everyday items.

Well Jaimie it's like this. My husband refuses to drink any herbal tea or take any kind of tincture so it has to be a lotion or capsule and I've not tried capsules yet.

Haha. My husband is the opposite. He's willing to try herbal read and different things like that but hates lotions and what not. He says lotions are too oily.

I finally got one of my most wanted herb books. Its written by Chris D. Meletis, N.D. Natural Health Magazine "Complete guide to Safe herbs". There's a section on What herbs are safe and unsafe to take with certain medications. For example, my husband takes tramadol, Which is a non- narcotic pain reliever prescribed to relieve moderate to severe pain. Can't mix with St. John's Wort because they both reduce the uptake of serotonin. There is a list of safe herbs for children & Potentially dangerous herbs for children. Safe and potentially dangerous herbs for older adults. There is even an index of safe herbs by condition (Alzheimer's to yeast infections).

Kathy547 said:I finally got one of my most wanted herb books. Its written by Chris D. Meletis, N.D. Natural Health Magazine "Complete guide to Safe herbs". There's a section on What herbs are safe and unsafe to take with certain medications. For example, my husband takes tramadol, Which is a non- narcotic pain reliever prescribed to relieve moderate to severe pain. Can't mix with St. John's Wort because they both reduce the uptake of serotonin. There is a list of safe herbs for children & Potentially dangerous herbs for children. Safe and potentially dangerous herbs for older adults. There is even an index of safe herbs by condition (Alzheimer's to yeast infections).

Where did you find that book? It sounds very informative. Thank you for sharing.

An old encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism it is written in European Has a lot of Dye and ideas ,powders and strings , 100's of Teas and warnings ,
Do not use it often but love the info ,

I first saw it at a Books-a-Million but didn't know if I wanted it bad enough to pay $40. Later, I couldn't find it in their database. Off & on over the years I'd do a search but couldn't find it. I finally found it on Amazon.

Kathy547 said:I first saw it at a Books-a-Million but didn't know if I wanted it bad enough to pay $40. Later, I couldn't find it in their database. Off & on over the years I'd do a search but couldn't find it. I finally found it on Amazon.

Sounds like a lucky find.

jimard8 said: An old encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism it is written in European Has a lot of Dye and ideas ,powders and strings , 100's of Teas and warnings ,
Do not use it often but love the info ,

It's seems I need to do some research Haha
This sounds highly useful as well.

Kathy547 said:I finally got one of my most wanted herb books. Its written by Chris D. Meletis, N.D. Natural Health Magazine "Complete guide to Safe herbs". There's a section on What herbs are safe and unsafe to take with certain medications. For example, my husband takes tramadol, Which is a non- narcotic pain reliever prescribed to relieve moderate to severe pain. Can't mix with St. John's Wort because they both reduce the uptake of serotonin. There is a list of safe herbs for children & Potentially dangerous herbs for children. Safe and potentially dangerous herbs for older adults. There is even an index of safe herbs by condition (Alzheimer's to yeast infections).

I just found a copy of the book on Amazon for $4 (.01+$3.99 shipping)! I've been looking for a reference for herb interactions with medicines. Thank you so much for posting!